Deciding Goal Weights! Help!

When you have been successful with WLS how do you decide what your final goal should be. I am 7-8 pounds to a healthy BMI which is 164 and I plan to lose an additional 14 pounds from there to be 150 (This would give me a BMI of 22.8). I know the BMI charts are hogwash but humour me a bit here. For my height the healthy weight range is 122- 164 pounds. That is a huge space and I am wondering how do you decide when enough is enough when you don't' have a good concept of your own body image. We are all no strangers to some of the body-dysmorphia stuff that goes on in our heads and how psychologically it can take longer for your brain to catch up to what is actually physically happening with your body. So how do you decide when to stop. Do you go by a feeling in your gut? Do I get to 150 and assess if that feels good physically? If it doesn't do I go to 140? Is that too skinny? I plan to talk with my team at my one year follow-up appointments next week but I am always curious about the opinions of you folks too.

first I would talk to my doctor and see what he thinks I should weigh , then go on how you feel and look

 Im shore if what you pick is in the ballpark of what the doctor says it will be fine

My surgeon will not give a goal weight at all. I plucked 165 out of the thin air. At 16 months out, I am 183, down from a start weight of 314. So even my arbitrary goal weight will still put me in the overweight category of the BMI charts ( I am 5'4").

What I decided at 100 pounds lost is that I would work on my body fat percentage, which I feel is a much more accurate predictor of health. I had mine measured in August, and it was 36%. I have been eating cleanly (mostly) and working on fitness. I will get it tested again in the spring. I am aiming for under 30% as my first goal, and then under 25%. Gawd only knows what is was presurgery. Probably well over 50%.

Another thing to consider is that for many of us, having spent years MO or SMO, our bones are denser and heavier than the same sized person who was never MO, so our bottom weights will ultimately be heavier. And muscle weighs a lot more than fat, which is why the BMI charts are not the best measurement.

I think you have to go with the number that really makes you happy. And even then, when you make that number you have to reassess and honestly decide if this is truly where you want to be. I look anorexic when i am 140 lbs. I know that when i weighed 185 i looked great. So that is my initial goal.

BUT, the last time I weighed 185 lbs I was 27 years old. Who knows what the 55 y/o will look like at 185. I may have to tweak it. My weight should be between 140 and 185 based on the health guidelines and my guideline. The truth lies somewhere in between there. 

Good Luck,

Sharon

Can I ask you how tall you are? I'm kind of aiming for 140 (im 5'9- 5 10) but i want to be realistic

I am 5'6 and have a large frame. 

I'm 46. My goal weight in my 20's was 140 (I'm 5'7"). It's where I was in my 20's when I got my weigh****chers lifetime membership. I liked being that weight, so it's what I wanted to get to post-RNY. I maintain between 135-140 now at 4.33 years out. One thing you will have to think about when you get closer is how much effort you are willing to put in to be a lower weight. You may need to severely restrict your calories and exercise like a maniac to maintain lower than your body wants to be. It's a balancing act.